"To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favour and honour.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!"
Psalm 84
The prayer in 8 leads to the third section (9-12). It may mean that the Psalmist, thinking of what he has been saying about the valley of weeping, prays that if this were to be his experience, this is how it would be with him - that is, that the experience would be an enrichment to him, and make him an enrichment to others. The prayer in 9 is perplexing as to its precise meaning and significance here at this point. One suggestion is that the Psalm was 'the work of a companion of David's in his flight. If so, the king's restoration would be the condition of satisfying the Psalmist's longing for the sanctuary' (Maclaren). Or, following the AV, it is a prayer to God our shield, to look upon us as His anointed servants, and to succour us in all our weakness and need. In 10 the theme of the Psalm is renewed - the blessedness of the life of the Spirit. That life is to be estimated not according to its length, but according to the richness of its contents. Time is relative, qualitative: one crowded moment is better than years of languid inactivity. Here, then, is the choice he makes: he weighs up the alternatives, the things of the world, its advancements, visions and affluence, and he opts for the pilgrim life. The humble place is chosen, for the Lord's sake, rather than that of affluence, which can only give His 'second-best'. And this choice brings the Divine plenty (11): no good thing does God withhold, for He gives His best to those who leave the choice to Him. In the Christian life we are inevitably going to be faced, not once, but again and again, with this kind of choice. And it is as well to have our priorities clear from the outset. There are stands to be taken: and when they are not taken rightly, impoverishment results. But if we have once tasted the blessedness of the true life of the Spirit, all other taste is spoiled for us, and our preference will be clear and unequivocal.